Description:

Slavery
Norwich, CT, May 14, 1761
Sale of Teenaged Slave Girl in Colonial Connecticut
MDS
[SLAVERY.] Ebenezer Fitch, Manuscript Document Signed, Bill of Sale for slave Nancy, May 14, 1761, Norwich, Connecticut. 1 p., 8" x 11.875". Some small holes on folds, not affecting text; small separations on several folds; personal wax seal intact.

This bill of sale records the transfer of the ownership of Nancy, a seventeen-year-old enslaved girl, from Ebenezer Fitch to his brother-in-law Isaac Huntington for £40. Isaac Huntington's brothers Elijah Huntington (1734-1814) and Benjamin Huntington Jr. (1736-1801) signed the document as witnesses. Benjamin Huntington Jr. served as Norwich town clerk from 1765 to 1801.

Complete Transcript
Know all Men by these Presents that I Ebenezer Fitch of Norwich in the County of Newlondon and Collony of Conneticut for the Consideration of Forty Pound Lawful money to me In hand Paid by Isaac Huntington Esqr of sd Norwich the Receipt Whereof I hereby Acknowledge I the sd Ebenezer Fitch Do therefore In consideration above I Do Bargain Sell & Convey unto him the sd Isaac Huntington Esqr and to his Heires and assigns one Carting Negro Girl Named Nancy of about Seventeen Years of Age a Slave to be the Property of him the sd Isaac Huntington Esqr his heirs & assigns During her Natural Life to have to hold Said Negro Slave as his onley Property & to sd only Benefits to him the sd Isaac Huntington Esqr his Heirs and assigns During her Natural Life as above sd and I the sd Ebenezer Fitch Do for my Self & my Heires Covenant and agree to and with the sd Isaac Huntington his Heires & assigns that I ame the Sole and Lawful owner of sd Negro Slave and that I have Good Right and Lawfull Authority to Bargin and Sell sd Slave In manner & Form above Written and Fothermore I the sd Ebenezer Fitch Do Bind my Self and my heirs to Warrant and Defend the sd Negro Slave unto him the sd Isaac Huntington Esqr and his heirs & assigns for Ever against all Lawfull Clames & Demands What Ever In Wittness Whereof I the sd Ebenezer Fitch have herby Sett my Hand & Seal the 14th Day of May AD 1761
Ebnezr Fitch [seal]
Singned Seald In presents of
Elijah Huntington
Benj. Huntington

[File Note on Verso:] Bill of Sale of Nancy

Historical Background
Slavery in Connecticut began in the seventeenth century and remained legal throughout the eighteenth century, but the state legislature acted to restrict it in the last quarter of the century. The colony prohibited the further importation of slaves in 1774. A decade later, in the wake of the Revolutionary War, the Connecticut General Assembly approved a plan of gradual emancipation by which all slaves born after March 1, 1784, would become free at age 25 for males and age 21 for females. If she were still alive and in Connecticut in 1784, this act would not have helped Nancy, who would have been around 40 when it was passed.

In the mid-1770s, there were approximately 5,100 enslaved persons in Connecticut. By 1790, 2,764 persons remained enslaved in the state. The number declined to 951 in 1800, 97 in 1820, 25 in 1830, and 17 in 1840. In 1844, then Governor Roger Sherman Baldwin proposed legislation to end slavery, but the General Assembly did not pass it until it was reintroduced in 1848. That act freed the six remaining enslaved persons in the state.

Ebenezer Fitch (1724-1797) was born in Canterbury, Connecticut, the son of Benjamin Fitch and Hannah Read Fitch. He married Mary Huntington (1728-1798) in 1750, and they had at least eleven children. He died in Norwich, Connecticut.

The purchaser was probably:
Isaac Huntington (1688-1784) was born in Norwich, Connecticut, the son of Christopher Huntington and Sarah Adgate Huntington. He married Rebeckah Lathrop in 1716, and they had at least twelve children. He served as a judge of the county court.
But may have been his son:
Isaac Huntington (1719-1799) was born in Norwich, Connecticut, the son of Isaac Huntington (1688-1764) and Rebeckah Lathrop Huntington.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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  • Dimensions: 8" x 11.875"
  • Medium: MDS

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